Paraffin tool or knife



Jan. 21, 1958 E. RAY

PARAFFIN TOOL OR KNIFE Filed Feb. 25, 1955 INVENTOR. LZOYD E. RAY

United States Patent PARAFFIN TOOL OR KNIFE Lloyd E. Ray, Post, Tex.,assignor to Don E. Martin, Harlingen, Tex.

Application February 25, 1955, Serial No. 490,589

1 Claim. (Cl. 166-176) This invention relates to improvements inparaflin cleaning tools or knives that are adapted to clean paraffin andother residue from the tubing of oil wells.

An object of the invention is to provide a paraflin tool or knife thatwill efliciently and efiectively clean the interior bore of well tubing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a parafiin tool or knifethat is provided with a coupling end so that the tool or knife can beattached to a cable or drill rod so that the tool or knife can belowered into the well tubing while the pressure is present in the welltubing.

The formation of the paraflin tool will cause the parafiin and residueto be loosened so that the oil will carry the paraffin and residue tothe top of the well tubing where it can be disposed of, usually to aburning pit.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view the inventionconsists of the novel details of construction, arrangement andcombination of parts more fully hereinafter described, claimed andillustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a paraifin tool or knife embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the tool of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the tool of Fig. 2;

Referring more in detail to the drawing wherein like parts aredesignated by like reference numerals the reference numeral is used todesignate a paraffin tool or knife embodying the invention.

The tool 10 comprises a stud 11 having a threaded end 12 whereby thetool 10 may be connected to a cable or drill rod for the operation ofthe tool as will be later described.

The stud 11 is provided with a circular flange 13 adjacent thetermination of the threads and the flange is provided with a bevelledlower edge 14.

A second circular flange 15 having a bevelled lower edge 16 is providedon the stud 11 intermediate of the first flange 13 and the end of thestud opposite to the threaded end thereof.

A pair of opposed outwardly diverging projections 17 and 18,respectively, are provided on the unthreaded end of the stud 11 and theoutermost ends of these projections are farther apart than the diameterof the stud 11.

Depending from the outer ends of the projections 17 and 18 in axialalinement with the stud 11 and with each other are a pair of spiralblades 19 and 20, respectively. The blades 19 and 20 have a spiral twistof degrees from one end to the opposite end thereof.

The longitudinal edges 21 of both blades are sharpened and bevelledtoward the inside thereof.

Four vertically spaced knives 22 are integrally connected at theiropposite ends to the edges 21 of the blades 19 and 20. Viewing Fig. 1,it will be seen that the knives 22 are so spaced that no two knives arein alinement with each other.

The lowermost knife 22 is at the lower end of the blades 19 and 20 andthe remaining three knives are in vertical spaced relationship.

The knives 22 have arcuate shaped edges 23 that are also sharpened andbevelled toward the inside.

The transverse cross-sections of the blades 19 and 20 and the knives 22are such that the tool is circular in formation along its length.

The tool, by means of the threaded end 12 of the stud 11, may beconnected to a cable or drill rod. Thus the tool can be lowered into thewell tubing to cut paraffin and other residue from the internal bore ofthe well tubing.

Since the diameter of well tubing varies, the tool will be made invarious sizes so that just suflicient clearance is provided between thetool and the wall of the well tubing to permit the insertion of the toolinto the well tubing. As the tool is lowered into the tubing, thesharpened edges of the blades 19 and 20 and knives 22 will cut or scrapethe paraflin from the walls of the tubing.

There has thus been provided a paraflin cleaning tool that is efficientand effective in operation and it is believed that the construction andoperation of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

It is also to be understood that changes in the minor details ofconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts may be resorted toprovided they fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope ofthe appended claim.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

A parafiin cleaning tool for well tubing comprising a coupling stud, apair of spiral blades dependently connected to said stud, and aplurality of vertically spaced knives integrally interconnecting saidblades, said blades having a spiral twist of 180 for their entirelength, said tool being of circular cross section, and said blades andknives having the inner faces of their edge portions inwardly beveled.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,758,995 Armstrong et a1. May 20, 1930 1,847,985 Sawyer Mar. 1, 19322,312,600 Steps Mar. 2, 1943

